Surveillance systems have always presented counter-intelligence and public safety risks -- from backdoors to poorly regulated wares of mercenary spyware firms Here's another example thanks to @404media.co @jasonkoebler.bsky.social who discovered a Flock camera system exposed to the internet 👇

Get ready for more of this: * the crossover of advertising data w/ state surveillance * a way for law enforcement & intelligence to sidestep warrants and oversight b/c it's novel, a linked to data economies that are already intrusive and pervasive * Govts (Germany 🇩🇪 here) evading accountability

In the "everyday more bad news" category: Trump Administration Turning to Private Firms in Cyber Offensive 🧵 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

In 2019, we @citizenlab.ca published an investigation into a disinfo / influence operation we called "Endless Mayfly", and which we attributed at the time to an "Iran-aligned entity" citizenlab.ca/2019/05/burn... Now, Meta's latest adversarial threat report showing we were spot on 👇

There you have it A straight line from Trump's hateful, bigoted and ignorant remarks... to a daylight snatch, assault, and kidnapping of a Somali American citizen So despicable

An excellent & very disturbing overview of the scope & scale of domestic surveillance systems deployed in the US 🇺🇸 by @peter.andringa.me @financialtimes.com 👇 Ostensibly for deportation, these can (& likely are) being fine-tuned for deployment on critics of the Trump regime -- a chilling prospect

Eye scans, licence plate readers, spyware: technology used to catch criminals and terrorists is being repurposed to fulfil Trump's pledge to deport 1mn undocumented migrants this year. Critics fear it’s the thin end of the authoritarian wedge. An #FTEdit thread on America’s new surveillance state 👇

Add this one to the many other reasons why I've been declining invitations to attend anything in the United States. U.S. 🇺🇸 Plans to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists’ Social Media History www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t...

Re Signalgate As the IG report rightly flagged, one issue easily overlooked is the use of "a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information" 🧵

Garbage in, garbage out, back in again, and out, endlessly expanding in bubbling waves. The "public sphere" is fast becoming a grotesque toxic cesspool -- and there's little effort being made to contain and limit it. In fact, it's as if the overwhelming public policy consensus is to accelerate it

Canada's 🇨🇦 independent oversight of its intel & security agencies is taking a hit b/c of federal budget cuts That's troubling: the agency is relatively new, was building up experienced people & knowledge, & now will be set back It was already overstretched & met resistance Bad for rule of law

Putting aside whatever he's saying, which is incomprehensible to me at least, it made me wonder... Do billionaires organize substance abuse interventions on each others' behalf? Maybe on a private island?

Thank you @michelawrong.bsky.social and @niaolainf.bsky.social for selecting Chasing Shadows as your 2025 book of year recce in @thespectator1828.bsky.social (www.spectator.co.uk/article/book...) and @justsecurity.org (www.justsecurity.org/126111/just-...) respectively. I appreciate it very much!

It is good to see enforcement of the EU Digital Services Act against X. We need more principled democratic governance of tech platforms, and penalties for non-compliance 1) Elon Musk’s X Hit With $140 Million Fine in Europe www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/t...

Great work showing yet more mercenary spyware abuses, this time in Iraq and Pakistan involving shady Intellexa and its Predator spyware 👇

8/ A public service reminder: This entire exercise is an absurd, imaginary world for legal experts. That's because the truth is: It's not an armed conflict. The laws of war thus don't apply. The more restrictive rules of human rights apply. It's extrajudicial killing under that law.

Just another day of unfiltered white nationalist racist garbage from the White House

Good to hear there is still an "Inspector General" at all that is looking into this debacle. For those interested in learning more, I wrote about the real risks of SignalGate here www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights armed with a slew of commercial surveillance systems www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Same for us @citizenlab.ca

A self-inflicted ticking time bomb

what hegseth describes is deeply criminal under international law and, before his tenure, accepted law for the US armed forces. we cannot let this go. it's not about policy difference. it's murder under the color of law.

AI is reshaping how we live, work, and communicate. But how will it change democracy? On Dec 2 join #UofT's Bruce Schneier, Beth Coleman & @rondeibert.bsky.social for "Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship." munkschool.utoronto.ca/event/rewiri...

Politicized investigations against political enemies are a key feature of authoritarian systems @reuters.com documented at least 470 targets of retribution under 🇺🇸 Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. www.reuters.com/investigates...

Nearly a year has passed since Assad’s regime collapsed. Disinformation has only intensified, shaping public opinion and deepening uncertainty. Back in January, I explored this in an article with @timep.bsky.social The patterns I described remain active in post-Assad Syria today. #Disinformation

A judge issued a permanent injunction against NSO Group targeting WhatsApp. Now, NSO Group is petitioning for that to be overturned, saying it would prevent them from doing business in the USA, which they desperately want cyberscoop.com/nso-group-wh...

US border patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers in a secretive program to identify & detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. apnews.com/article/immi...

Join us next week for an interesting conversation on WPS and digital authoritarianism.

Absolutely vile

On Dec 11, tune in for @rondeibert.bsky.social's conversation w/ @signal.org president @meredithmeredith.bsky.social about the critical lessons learned from the Signalgate scandal at @financialtimes.com #FTGlobalBoardroom conference. Learn more: globalboardroom.ft.com/agenda/sessi...

What's ChatGPT? Intimate by design and highly invasive. Dispensing dubious health, legal, psychological and other advice to vulnerable people without license. A corporate black box of personally identifiable data, shared with governments upon request. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

A firm that sells extraordinarily powerful phone hacking technology that has been demonstrably connected to widespread harms worldwide, including gruesome murder, and was properly sanctioned and held liable because of it ....is now in the hands of these people. That's Bad News, everyone.

Bad news for human rights and national security, no matter how you spin it NSO Group has a new executive chairman, David Friedman, who's a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and onetime bankruptcy lawyer for President Trump. www.wsj.com/tech/israeli... via @WSJ

NEW: Paragon spyware hit a key Italian campaign manager / political strategist. Super concerning case & a reminder that Italy has a growing pile of unexplained infections with Paragon's Graphite spyware.

EFF was created for scary moments like the one we’re facing now. For 35 years, EFF has fought to ensure your rights follow you online and wherever you use technology. Join us today: supporters.eff.org/donate/tbc

“It’s astonishing how the industry is able to experiment on human populations with such far-reaching technology and largely unrestrained.” Citizen Lab director @rondeibert.bsky.social discusses the ethical risks of AI in an interview with the @financialpost.com. financialpost.com/technology/c...

Along with numerous orgs and individuals, I have signed on to an Open Letter to the 🇨🇦 Minister of AI raising serious concerns about the government's approach to AI strategy. Details are here 👇 bccla.org/policy-submi...

Everyone is talking about AI. It's obviously having a transformative impact across all sectors of society. So how should the Canadian government approach it? My interview with Yvonne Lau for the @financialpost.com financialpost.com/technology/c...

Toronto: I'll be giving a talk about my book Chasing Shadows at Hot Docs theatre this coming Sunday November 2nd. Details here: hotdocs.ca/whats-on/fil... Hope to see you there

What can you do to better protect yourself in the Age of TechnoFascism? If you're asking this question, I highly recommend this talk and post by @micahflee.com 👇 micahflee.com/practical-de...

The situation in the United States has become very dark, and will get a whole lot darker if trends continue. The entire world, and Americans who get it, need to wake up, and work together to contain and reverse what is going on, before it's too late. Time is running out.

Good to see some accountability in 🇵🇱 Former Polish official indicted; Illegally transferred money from a fund meant for victims of online abuse to purchase mercenary spyware And then target (as we @citizenlab.ca uncovered) political oppositions' phones therecord.media/former-polis...

"There are 700,000 points covering 160 countries on this map. Each one represents a cell phone that was tracked at a specific place in time. Some phones are tracked multiple times over the course of an hour or day or week..." revealnews.org/podcast/cell...

American enshittification

I am very honoured to be awarded the Simon Fraser University's Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy On behalf of all of my colleagues @citizenlab.ca and our partners around the world thank you for this recognition of our work youtu.be/41wkXFyEsP8?...

All gas, no brakes

Exhibit A for why proper oversight is essential Canada's 🇨🇦 CSIS mischaracterized its use of undisclosed secret surveillance tech. Report is heavily redacted but... The technology introduced “a significant expansion of collection capabilities and operational risks.” www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art...

The surveillance empire that tracked world leaders, a Vatican enemy, and maybe you www.motherjones.com/politics/202... A stunning investigation by @lighthousereports.com of what I call "despotism as a service"👇

For over a decade, we @citizenlab.ca have documented extensive abuse of NSO Group's spyware, including being used to target political opposition, journalists, activists, human rights defenders and US govt officials. *This sale should not be permitted* techcrunch.com/2025/10/10/s...

NEW @citizenlab.ca report (10/02/25) We uncovered a network of more than 50 inauthentic X profiles conducting an AI-enabled IO whose aim was to foment revolt in Iran We assess the Israeli gov, or a private contractor under its direction, is likely responsible citizenlab.ca/2025/10/ai-e...